No one ever said, "Go Midwest young man."
And people continue to leave Indiana and Illinois in search of opportunity elsewhere.
As has been the case for the last decade, more residents moved out of Indiana and Illinois than moved in, according to the Atlas Van Lines' annual migration patterns study. The Evansville-based moving company, a nationwide leader in its sector, found that 1,379 of its customers moved into Indiana last year, while 1,739 moved out.
Outward migration slowed by about 4.2 percent in Indiana in 2014, but more people have left than arrived every year since at least 2005.
A similar trend is taking place in Illinois, a state that 2,362 Atlas customers moved into last year and 3,553 moved out of. The number of people moving into Illinois slowed by 3.7 percent in 2014, and the number leaving the state rose by 7.2 percent.
Both Indiana and Illinois are affected by a broader regional trend — people are leaving the Midwest.
Last year, more people moved out of than moved into six of the 12 U.S. Census-designated Midwestern states, according to the study. In five states, it was a wash, equally divided between the people coming and going. North Dakota, the center of an oil boom, is the only state in the entire Midwest to see net inbound migration.
Americans are mainly moving south and to the Pacific Northwest, the study found.
A second study by United Van Lines found similar results. The 38th annual National Movers Study named Oregon the nation's Top Moving Destination, with 66 percent of the moves to and from the state being inbound. South and North Carolina rounded out the top three.
Illinois ranked third nationally in net outbound migration, with about 63 percent of people leaving. The Land of Lincoln was the state with the third most outbound migration for five of the last six years.
"With economic stability growing nationally, the current migration patterns reflect longer-term trends of movement to the southern and western states, especially to those where housing costs are relatively lower, climates are more temperate and job growth has been at or above the national average, among other factors," said Michael Stoll, economist, professor and chair of the Department of Public Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles.
"Unique amenities such as outdoor recreation, arts and entertainment activities, and green space protection likely continue to propel Oregon to the top of the list for the second straight year," he said.